Even Angels
by ImYourChristianMingleBuddy
Summary: "Even angels have their wicked schemes and you take that to new extremes." A deeper look into Henry and Trish's breakup as mentioned in the show. Abby&Henry friendship and some references to violence.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Slight AU. Trish and Henry attend Washington State together where they met. She didn't grow up with Henry and Abby on the island. One other thing, this is pre-Harper's Island. It's a deeper look into Henry and Trish's breakup as mentioned in the show from Abby's perspective. Enjoy and let me know what you think! I'll update as I edit._

_Where this story gets its title:_  
><em>Even angels have their wicked schemes,<em>  
><em>and you take that to new extremes. <em>  
><em>But you'll always be my hero,<em>  
><em>even though you've lost your mind.<br>_

_Love the Way You Lie Part 2_

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

"_Hey, Abby. It's Henry again. I hope you're getting my messages. You haven't forgotten about my birthday this Saturday have you? Sully wants to throw this ridiculous party at the marina to quote 'cheer me up'," _he snorted. _"-buuuut, I'm not really up for it-" _

Abby was jumping into a pair of jeans that were waiting for her on the bed when the house phone came alive on the nightstand. She shook her wet shower hair out and let it ring so that she could finish getting dressed, but as she was pulling a red blouse over her head from the closet, her friend's voice came through and she squealed in a panic.

She returned home yesterday afternoon to her downtown Los Angeles apartment to discover two missed calls from Henry Dunn. She completely neglected to return them, and instant guilt made her dive, partially put together, across the bed for the phone. Her jeans still needed zipping and her blouse was awkwardly hanging, but luckily there was no one around to see those small exposed parts of her.

Fortunately, she made it before her voicemail either cut him off or he hung up. Abby didn't want him assuming that his high spot on her priority list wasn't routinely reserved for his birthday this week. If not for her poor memory, she would have called him back instead of hurrying to answer the phone like she was now.

With everything going on with his girlfriend, or ex rather now (she wasn't sure), he couldn't have been more worthy of her attention. She was his long-distance bestie medication, and she couldn't have made it any clearer that she was prescribed to him _as _needed, so Abby felt obligated to be there for him. Faraway or not. Having horrible relationship issues so close to his birthday must have been terrible for Henry.

"_Hence_, the cheering up, Henry," she answered, sprawled on her belly. "And I would sooner die than forget."

"_Hey," _he said happily. _"You're home." _The cheerfulness in his voice placed an image of him in her mind, and suddenly she was perfectly imagining that silly smile of his.

Abby rolled off of her well kempt mattress to zip her jeans. "Yep. Hey, I'm sorry I didn't call you back yesterday. I was running errands all day, and it completely slipped my mind… Could you ever forgive me?" Hopeful, she winced and sat up on the edge of the bed to slip inside a pair of worn tennis shoes.

"_Hey, don't worry about it," _he chuckled._ "Glad you picked up. If I know my Abby she's always busy." _She smiled._ "So about the party Saturday…"_

Abby instantly put her hand up to stop him, uncaring that he couldn't see.

"I'll be there," she finished to save him the trouble of asking.

"_Really? That was easy. Didn't even get to beg. There goes two hours of my life rehearsing." _

Abby pouted. "Damn," she said sadly. "That would've been interesting. I'll hold my tongue next time." Henry laughed.

"_That's right you will," _he teased. _"Well, that's great then. Looks like I'll be attending Sully's pity party for me as well. Can't wait to see you, Abs. I really miss you." _She flipped the bottom of her pants over her newly tied shoes and sat up on the bed.

With a sigh, she said, "I miss you too, Henry," and she meant it. It'd been a few months since either of them flew out for a visit. Abby sat up to address something she'd been meaning to ask him about for the past week. "How are things with… Trish?" She treaded carefully.

She realized little miss Wellington was a touchy subject matter, however, she couldn't help asking. But Trish wasn't the only one to blame for Henry's misery. Hunter Jennings was the _other _touchy subject matter. The one who tore a perfectly sweet couple apart and instantly made an enemy out of Abby Mills.

Henry exhaled heavily. _"Uh, I don't know," _he answered, clearly bored with this discussion long before it had a chance to begin._ "Haven't spoken to her in like two weeks and I don't _wanna _talk to her." _She was certain they were broken up now.

"You should," Abby tried. "You know? Sort everything out. If you still don't want to be with her then that's your decision."

"_Abby…" _His dull voice came. _"She _cheated _on me. I think she's already made her choice." _

Hearing the lack of fight in his voice made her feel for him. He was giving up because some other man put his hands all over his girlfriend, and although she'd put her hands equally on him, it wasn't fair for Henry to just roll over and allow whatever was going to happen to happen. Problems didn't sort themselves out. She learned _that _her sophomore year of high school when she blankly stared down her calculus quiz so hard, she got a taste of what cerebral hemorrhaging was like.

"Henry, don't be like that," she continued. He needed some sign of hope. "I can't imagine how it must have felt to walk in on them but that can't be the end of it. You guys have been together for _two_ years."

"_Are you saying I should forgive her?" _He asked.

Though confused, he absorbed her words like normally. She adored him and he adored her. They were the siblings they never had, which was why she was careful about what she said to him. All she could do was give him her two cents and hope he would find it in himself to do the right thing.

Abby stood to yank her brush poking out from her purse on the dresser.

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all. What she did was wrong and frankly, I don't think she deserves any free passes right now."

Henry urged her to continue. _"Well, then?"_

"All I'm saying is," she went on and scowled at her plain reflection in the mirror. "I thought you two loved each other. Last I saw you guys were attached at the hip."

Irritable, he scoffed. _"Yeah, I thought the same thing. I guess she fooled all of us." _

Henry was so melancholy about the whole thing. Abby was beginning to assume he had already accepted defeat, which meant she was the worst best friend ever. She hadn't really had the time to sit down and genuinely talk to him about any of it. That desolate sound of dejection she was hearing from him made her feel bad for not being there with him.

"But if you love her, then why aren't you fighting for her? Who is this Hunter guy anyway? Forget it," she lividly cut herself off. "Just give me his address."

"_He works for her father," _he told her. _"I met him last year over the summer when Trish _insisted _I spend more time with the family. Real nice guy he turned out to be." _

Abby covered her face with her palm, frustrated. This just kept getting worse and worse for him, and it was exasperating to not have something that she could do to make him feel better. Henry was a good person. He didn't deserve such a painful heartache.

Sympathetic, she said, "Oh my god, Henry," and shook her head, overwhelmed. "I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do? You must be going crazy over there."

Henry sighed and she stopped brushing her hair to listen.

"_Sure. Dedicate your first book to failed relationships. Maybe it'll save some of your readers from whatever painful thing that's been going on in my chest."_

Abby frowned at herself in the mirror. Looked like she would have to get there before Saturday…


	2. Chapter 2

2

THREE DAYS LATER

PULLMAN, WASHINGTON

It was a long flight from California to Washington but well worth it. Abby was greeted at the airport by Henry and his college roommate at Washington State, Christopher 'Sully' Sullivan, and his good friend Danny Brooks. She tried to remember the last time she saw them in person and figured it must have been last Thanksgiving when she spent her break with Henry in Seattle.

They all got along well, and after Sully finally flirted himself out, he accepted her as one of the guys and left her alone. She was grateful for that. Turning him down grew tiring over time, as it did with most every girl he openly targeted. As for Danny, he was a decent guy. He shared several of the classes Henry was taking at WSU and was one of the easiest guys to get along with. He was very outgoing, and Abby loved him to death.

Henry showed Abby and her backpack full of clothes up to his dorm that Friday evening and promised she could have Sully's bed over the weekend. It saved her from having to rent a place at a cheap motel, which she was grateful for. At Henry's request, Sully reluctantly agreed to bunk at Danny's while Abby was staying. Deep down, it was because Sully knew that he needed someone to talk to, and obviously he wasn't cutting it. Apparently encouraging him to quickly move on from Trish was not helping.

Saturday morning, Abby woke to several loud bangs at the door. Henry couldn't have cared less who it was on the other side, so he didn't move much, unlike Abby who shot up, eyes half-closed and frustrated.

"_Yo, Henry! Let me in, man! I forgot my key!"_ Tired, Abby rubbed the crease between her eyes. It was Sully.

"Good!" Henry shouted face-down into a pillow. "Go away!" He refused to get up, but Abby couldn't sleep with all of the banging.

"_Henryyyyy… Heeeeenryyyy…" _He kept on relentlessly until Abby threw the covers off and accepted defeat. There would be no sleep while a determined Sully wanted in.

Henry leaned up on his elbow when he opened his eyes and noticed her going for the door. "Don't do it, Abby," he said. She turned back to him with a hand on the deadbolt and laughed a little at his wild bed hair.

"_Henry, if you don't open this goddamn door I'm gonna kick your ass! I don't care if it is your birthday! Open the door!" _Henry stared wide-eyed and exhausted at Abby who shrugged and turned the lock in the end.

He ducked under the comforter to hide his head when Sully pushed the door open and a flood of guys poured in. Danny was one of them, and there were two others she didn't recognize behind him. One was wearing black plastic glasses, and the other was a scruffy, stout guy in greenish-blue plaid shorts.

Abby felt odd standing there in a short pair of pajama bottoms in front of a bunch of college boys, so she stepped aside to give them a clear view of Henry at the other end of the room. She didn't mind wearing them with just Henry around because they didn't look at each other that way, but the others she wasn't sure about and two of them she didn't even know.

"Thank you very much, Abby," Sully applauded her, and she silently laid her hand out to point the way to his roommate.

"Morning, Abby," Danny greeted cheerfully. The other two unknown people nodded at her in greeting and she gave them a friendly smile.

"Traitor!" Henry shouted at her beneath the covers. Now that they made their way inside it was unlikely they would leave. Abby cringed in apology but did not regret letting the guys in. Having them target him instead of continuing that incessant racket at the door may have been selfish, but it was much better than a noise-induced headache.

"That's right," Sully said and stepped over to wrap his arm around Abby. She looked up at the ceiling, submitting to his hold. "She's gone to the dark side. She's one of us now aren't you, Abby?" He gave her a sideways look and she thoughtfully raised a finger as Henry surfaced from the blankets to listen for her answer.

"Um… does the dark side pay for breakfast? Because… I could work with that," she grinned. Danny cracked up and Sully nodded.

"Of course, my lady," he said playfully and bowed. "Malcolm would be happy to pay for breakfast."

The stout one who she did not know made a face. "What?" He stuttered. "I'm broke, dude. I'm sure _Booth _would love to though."

"You guys are lame," the guy with the glasses said. He offered his hand to Abby. "I'm Joel by the way, but as you can tell my friends call me Booth."

She shook his hand, and Danny leaned in to whisper, _"It's his last name."_

Abby gave him a thumbs up and nodded. "Gotcha. Nice to meet you guys. I guess you all know Henry." They collectively chuckled.

"_Yea-hah _we do! Wake up, Henry," Malcolm said and they all started chanting it at once. Slowly and then faster as they approached him in bed.

"Wake up, Henry! Wake up, Henry! Wake up, Henry!" Abby covered her face laughing while Henry was dog-piled by his friends.

His voice was muffled by pillows. _"Didn't I tell you people to get lost!"_


	3. Chapter 3

3

Breakfast was nice with Henry and the rest of the guys and so was the party planning. Danny and Sully invited her along with them to round up as many of their friends as possible by seven o'clock that evening. Malcolm got his frat house to agree to supply an assortment of party flavors and Booth was having no trouble decorating the docks with a few of his friends.

The only one not having fun seemed to be Henry, but he was trying his hardest, Abby supposed. She saw him laugh and smile a few times after he finally got out of bed and was attacked by a mob of his college buddies, but for the most part, she could tell Trish Wellington was still to blame for his unhappiness. It was cruel of him to punish himself on his birthday for something _she _did. He didn't do anything wrong but that was the kind of person he was. Somehow, Abby would find a way to fix this. Maybe if she talked to Trish about it, since Henry was so adamant about not talking to her at all, they could figure some kind of resolution.

Even the thought was unlikely…

Around five that afternoon she snuck away from the group to hunt her down anyway. Everything seemed to be taken care of for the most part in terms of the party, so she didn't waste time telling anyone where she was going or what she would be doing. Especially not Henry. He would have sooner locked her away somewhere than let her go looking for Trish. Abby fully understood his reasons for not wanting anything to do with her right now, what Trish did to him was worse than hurtful, but there was no way she was going to let what happened between them ruin his birthday. She came here for one reason and that was to make sure Henry was happy.

Abby walked across campus to the co-ed buildings up the street from Sully and Henry's dorms. She recalled dropping by Trish's dorm one day in particular when Henry lost his cell phone and thought to search there first. Sure enough, he found it on the shelf above her bed where he'd left it the night before. Hopefully Trish could be found in the same place.

She took the elevator up to the fourth floor and prayed she could remember which door was hers, but unfortunately she had to ask a passing girl where she 'could find Trish Wellington'. On the bright side, the friendly W.S.U. student pointed her in the right direction and naturally she did a generous amount of thanking her.

Before she got there, she had to ask herself: what was she really doing here? What could she possibly say to Trish that would be of any help? All she knew was that she was both of their friends, or so Trish had once told her, so maybe they could just talk about it for now. She was trying her hardest not to pick sides (Henry…), but without mutual cooperation there was no way to ever peacefully get past this. She couldn't stand the thought of her best friend suffering because he lacked closure. It was his birthday, and Abby only had so many days here to make sure he was okay when she left.

Taking a deep breath to relax herself, Abby knocked a few times on the door. She heard a female's voice ask her to wait a second, but when the door opened up, it wasn't Trish standing in the doorway. It was Lucy Daramour, one of Trish's childhood friends who had followed her off to college. She was one of those people that smiled so brightly and talked so sweetly that it was nearly impossible to tell if her kindness was sincere or completely fake.

"Abby," the girl said, surprised. Abby forced a weak smile to be nice and Lucy returned a much stronger one. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming."

"Hi. Lucy. It's good to see you again," she said, holding her smile.

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Oh, you must be here for Henry. His b-day's this weekend isn't it?"

"Today. Actually," Abby said. Lucy nodded, silently saying '_I knew it' _with her eyes while stepping aside to allow Abby entrance. She politely stepped inside, not finding Trish or her roommate, Beth, anywhere. "Yeah. Listen, is Trish around? I was kind of hoping to talk to her."

She shook her head. "No. No, sorry. She left a little while ago. I have no idea where she went. She's been kind of _blah _since… well you must know." Abby nodded with understanding. "Yeah. This whole thing sucks. Henry's a nice guy and I think Hunter just has Trish a little confused right now."

Abby wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to what she was about to ask, but the question left her lips anyway. "I don't mean to pry but…" She hesitated. "How long has this been going on? I mean… did you know about it before this?"

Almost immediate guilt made Lucy frown, and as much as Abby wanted dearly to take the question back, she didn't. She waited. Listened. This was going to take patience.

Lucy noticeably swallowed. "I knew… for about three months. I'm so sorry. I know Henry's your friend, but Trish is mine and she needed someone to talk to about it. She really does love Henry."

"Then… what does she need another man for?" Abby didn't mean for it to come out as rude as it did, but she got snappy after the 'three _months_' thing. Her knowing wasn't even proof that it _started_ at three months.

"I don't know, Abby. I wish I did. But it's like I said. She's confused. And for what it's worth, I sincerely hope they find a way to get past this. They deserve each other."

Abby didn't say anything and for a moment, the only sound in the room was coming from the flat screen on the wall where the evening news was playing on one of the local channels. There was a male news anchor on the screen, but when he introduced a different story, it switched to someone else.

Lucy turned and unintentionally got sucked into the report.

"News 4 WKFD reporting live outside Cargo, this is Cynthia Miller. Twenty-two year old Sarah Taylor left a friend's house late this afternoon to find her fiancé Navy Houston _dead _in his apartment complex." It switched over to the woman she was referring to, the fiancé of Houston, Abby assumed, and she frowned. She was sobbing, tears running down her cheeks.

"I don't understand," she cried. "He was fine. He was _fine_ when I left… I was gone maybe thirty minutes…" She was shaking her head. "But when I got back…" The camera cut back to the reporter when the woman's cries grew worse.

Abby took a step forward, listening closely.

"Taylor arrived soon after leaving a friend's house, she says, to find Houston _hanging _from the ceiling fan. Now police aren't too clear on whether any foul play was involved but authorities are close to confirming that Houston has _in fact_ committed suicide. I'm Cynthia Miller reporting live outside Cargo for News 4 WKFD. We'll keep you posted on the latest."

It panned to a wide-shot of her location and Lucy put a hand to her mouth.

"Oh my goodness, I know those apartments." She pointed. "They're a couple miles off campus. I wonder if he was a student here. That's so sad."

Still, Abby stared silently at the television as the male anchor from before came back on. Death… There was no way of escaping it. She tried running from it before, but no matter where she went, no matter what part of the world she was in, it always lingered. It waited for its next victim. Like it did with everyone no matter what.

Like it did with her mother four years ago on Harper's Island.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Got to editing tonight. Hope you're enjoying, I know the chapters are short but I wanted to do a short story this time. I'll post the last chapter soon :)  
><em>

4

Four years ago, a man named John Wakefield murdered six people on Harper's Island. Abby was young, just finishing high school, when she found her mother hanging from a tree in the woods along with two other women near her home. Her father was the sheriff at the time and as far as Abby knew he still was. She didn't talk to him much after the incident, if they did they were arguing, and after he sent her away to live with her grandmother in California, they stopped speaking altogether. She hadn't seen or heard from him since and watching that news report at Trish's dorm brought back terrible memories she wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

_Taylor arrived soon after leaving a friend's house to find Houston hanging from the ceiling fan._ Hanging. Why did he have to be hanging? Abby felt sick to her stomach. She developed a natural hatred for the news sometime after being attacked by hungry journalists that milked her mother's death for all it was worth. It took about a year for people to finally leave her alone, and after she got her own apartment away from her grandparents, they seemed to lose interest.

Abby was waiting on a bench at the park where she asked Trish to meet her almost an hour ago. Beth had given her Trish's phone number before she left, but all she got was her voicemail. With a little bit of luck, she would get her message wherever she was, but at this point, Abby just wanted to regroup with the guys and find a way to distract herself from _Navy Houston_.

She could deal with Trish not showing up…

"Hey." Abby looked over her shoulder to find Patricia Wellington approaching in a light green sundress after enduring about a half hour of unhopeful waiting. She didn't think she would come. It was kind of a shock seeing her there.

Her hair was straight, much different than her usual lively brown curls, and her eyes were not as bright as she remembered them being. Looked like Henry wasn't the only one roaming around miserable but that wasn't _his _fault. Hunter Jennings didn't put a gun to her head and force her to sleep with him.

Abby nodded at her without a word.

"I got your message," Trish told her. "I'm glad you're here. In Pullman, I mean. Henry needs you." Abby blinked a few times, sensing the downhearted honesty in her voice. Trish shrugged and crossed her arms. "He won't talk to me," she said. "Maybe he'll talk to you." Abby could see how much she was hurting. At least she was genuinely apologetic if that made anything the slightest bit okay.

"He has," she said. "Sort of." She was cautious not to say anything that would draw a line between them. She was trying her best to keep one foot on each side. "You really hurt him, Trish. I think we can both agree he didn't deserve that."

She simply nodded. "No. He didn't. I know that what I did was wrong… but I think I realized that too late." Her voice grew quiet. "I really suck, huh?" Abby exhaled heavily, stuffing her hands down in her pockets.

"Yeah. Trish. You kinda do," she said earnestly. "I had someone once. Back home. His name was Jimmy." Wind blew past in a rush and played with Trish's loose hair. Abby's ponytail swayed, an icy entity wandering between them.

Trish listened intently. "What happened?" Abby lowered her eyes momentarily to keep her drifting mind on track. She didn't want to talk about this, but it seemed to be the only way she could make this conversation mean something to her.

"My mom happened," she said. Henry explained to Trish once about the murders on Harper's Island when they got into talking about how Abby ended up in L.A.. He had been there with her all of those years ago. Sympathetic, Trish looked down. "After she was killed and my dad sent me away, I left without saying goodbye. I think about him sometimes and what might have been if I'd never left. I don't want to think about how bad he must have felt. With no closure. No reason. Nothing."

Tears welled in Trish's eyes, and Abby could see she was thinking of Henry.

"So you know just," she quickly went on. "-if you really do love Henry don't _not_ try to make things right with him. You'll regret it later." Trish was still. "That's all I came here to say. I hope you guys can work it out."

Abby turned to leave but Trish stopped her. "You know why we didn't get caught?" She stood with her back turned to her, unmoving. No, she didn't know and she didn't think she wanted to, but she waited and she listened. "My R.A. caught Hunter sneaking in one night past curfew." Abby slowly turned back to face her. "She threatened to tell the dean but Hunter paid her off every night he snuck in. And Beth… she was _always _at her boyfriend's place so she didn't know most of the time. God… I feel _so_ terrible. I can't imagine what people must think of me."

Abby raised her chin, thoughtful. "What do you think of you?" She asked. Trish snorted just as a tear fell from her eye. Her eyeliner was slightly smeared.

"I think I'm a bitch who doesn't deserve someone as good as Henry. What do you think?" She inquired. Abby didn't want to be too brutally honest but she was honest. Partly because she wanted to get the negativity off of her chest and partly because Trish needed to hear it.

"I think you're right about one thing," she half-smiled. "You're a bitch." Trish released all of the air in her lungs and smiled only for a second. She sniffled right after, wiping the corners of her eyes and careful not to completely destroy her makeup. "But…" However reluctant, she continued. "I have to disagree with the second part. You deserve much better than casual affairs with a guy you hardly know. You deserve Henry, and Henry deserves you. You need to remind him of that before he completely forgets."

She turned and with that, she left.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Here's the final chapter. Finally got around to revising. Thank you everyone for reading.  
><em>

5

The marina was beautifully decorated. White lights were strung neatly around the railings of boats, up tall posts, and in trees. Henry was going to flip but mostly because he didn't enjoy having the spotlight on him too often. He was a simple guy who liked simple things. Abby knew that, but his other friends couldn't have cared less what he wanted. They talked it out with her and decided amongst themselves that Henry Dunn was in no condition to make decisions for himself.

So what did they do? They took on the task of creating the nicest, most fulfilling party they could assemble for him. Who cared if he wasn't the biggest partier out there? He would be tonight, and they would all be damned if he didn't enjoy himself. Especially Abby. She didn't fly all of the way out there for nothing, and something about her conversation with Trish had her feeling optimistic tonight.

Henry approached the excessively ornamented harbor with Abby riding on his back. She had both hands covering his eyes while Malcolm and Danny led him carefully to the party. The owner of the boat shop down there was all too happy to allow them the party space. After all, Henry's birthday attracted tons of young customers with money and his yachts got free advertisement.

"Stop peeking!" Abby demanded. "I can feel you blinking!" She flattened her slender fingers against the front of his face and hooked her elbows over his shoulders to keep from falling. Henry felt her slipping in her panic to shield his eyes at the same time she did and used his hold on her legs to push her back up.

"Maybe because your hands are squashing my eyeballs?" He guessed innocently. "I swear you used to be much gentler when we were kids…" She giggled and he couldn't help smiling himself.

"Da-da-da-da!" Sully sang as he came rushing up from down the longest pier.

The guys cheered at the wine bottle in his hand and Booth came jogging to them from the crowd of people Henry had gotten to know since he started at Washington State. Some were students, some were locals, and they were all quietly waiting for their cue. Sully had been running a quick check of everything to make sure the party was set and was just now returning to them.

"Are we ready?" Danny asked. Sully fake punched the air above him _Rocky_ style.

"Hell yes," he told them. He nodded at Abby and she grinned, uncovering Henry's eyes. When he opened them, an explosion of sound came from the docks and Abby wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on for dear life.

"SURPRISE!" They shouted. Embarrassed, Henry laughed at Abby whose guilty twitching eyes peeked over his shoulder at him.

"Surprise!" Henry said back. "You guys told me about this-I'm not surprised!"

"Shut up, Henry!" Sully yelled at him. "Act surprised goddamn it." He chuckled at his exasperated friend.

Abby gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Henry," she said and he leaned his head against hers lovingly. She slid down his back to stand with the others right after.

It felt so nice outside. It was a perfect night for celebration. With the combination of the wind and the water and the seventy-ish degree weather, everyone was in a good mood. Danny swallowed Abby in a partial hug and she laughed, accepting the friendly affection.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming," Henry said to the mob of people waiting for him to say something. "This is amazing. You really shouldn't have. It means a lot." Sully passed the wine bottle in his hand to him, and Henry raised it, chuckling. "Enjoy yourselves." And with that, they raised their glasses in cheers.

Abby hurried back to Henry's side before someone else ran off with him and held her arm out as an invitation. He automatically hooked his arm through hers without question, and she then bobbed her head toward a quieter area further down from the party.

"Come on," she grinned. "I have something for you."

He smiled, following her lead.

Abby walked Henry to one of the boats where few people were hanging out. She wanted to give him his present in private without criticism from the other guys. She was positive they went all out for him this time and spent money they didn't have on making him feel better, so she didn't want her inexpensive gift being undermined by a bunch of rich doofuses. She loved them all dearly, but Henry still liked simple things and not to brag but… she'd practically known him since birth. Abby wins.

They stood at the nose of a pleasantly lit yacht away from the others.

"Okay, I know I'm cheap," she vomited.

He only had a second's pause to say, "You're not cheap," before she went on. He gave her a meaningful glance but she overlooked it.

"But I was going through some of my old stuff from back home," she continued, her voice soft as ever. "And I found a few… interesting things." Henry turned his head slightly disturbed by the excited glint in her eyes.

"Oh no." He watched as Abby unbuttoned her purse to pull out a thick square booklet. The spine was worn, but the memories were still good as new. "Oh my god, you didn't." Abby tensed enthusiastically as his eyes widened on the scrapbook in her hands.

"I know, I thought it was lost forever after I left to California but my dad must have packed it away with the rest of my junk. I never really did finish unpacking."

'It' was a very special book to them. Abby's mother gave it to her on her eighth birthday and they spent the rest of their years on Harper's Island writing down every little dream and pointless thought they ever had. They had to stop after her father sent her away and by then they had pretty much outgrown the hobby. All but the last couple pages were filled. There were a lot of good times written down in there.

She opened the book to the first two pages to reveal a close-up picture of young Henry squashing his cheeks together with both hands. She'd also gotten a disposable camera that birthday as well.

He covered his face, laughing. "Oh my… god. I was such a nerd." Abby put her hand up.

"Uh, in that nine year old's defense, he spent a lot of time with this dorky girl who lived down the street? Abby Mills? Ring a bell?"

"Oh yeah," he played along, tapping the picture with his finger. "I remember her. Poor guy. He was such an angel. She used to get him into trouble all the time."

Abby smiled mischievously. "Still does." Henry released a heavy sigh, and she leaned into his half-hug. As she was turning the page, she caught a glimpse of the next picture and threw her head back. "Oh wow."

He straightened up to look and laughed just as she exploded into giggles. There was a photo of them covered in mud from head to toe in their swim suits with a sprinkler shooting water off between them.

"Is that your yard or mine?" Abby contemplated. "I don't remember that."

Henry scratched his head. "I have no idea… Oh wait, look. There's that creepy gnome your dad put in the front yard. If I'm remembering correctly, I came around a lot less often after that." She laughed. She did remember that gnome. It warded off unwanted troublemakers better than any scarecrow ever could.

Abby ran her finger down a numbered list off to the side and chuckled at Henry's sloppy writing. Fortunately, he improved it somewhat over the years. If he hadn't, with crappy handwriting like that, she would have recommended he pursue a career in medicine.

"Number five," she read. She started at the bottom of the list of random things young Henry wanted to do in life. "Sneak into a rated R movie."

Thoughtful, Henry squinted. "Um… Silence of the Lambs… '91. My cousin snuck me in. Scared the hell out of me but got it out of my system." He shrugged. Abby popped her eyebrows at him impressed. She never had a taste for those kinds of movies. He was brave for watching one on the big screen at ten years old.

"Number four: steal one of Mrs. Cooler's baby water…melons? What the hell, Henry?"

"Uh…" He chuckled. "My cousin again. I don't know if you remember him but he was a pretty dedicated skeet shooter. When he ran out of ammunition, he liked to shoot fruit from the catapult." Right. Abby remembered him. Benson? Was that his name?

"And that brings us to number three," she went on. "Marry... a… princess." She looked over her shoulder and saw that Henry was frowning. All of the sudden he was sad again and it was all her fault. She instantly felt terrible for reading that one, but he would have seen it anyway. Though depressed, she could see, he tried to keep the mood light.

"Well. At least I had my priorities all figured out," he half-smiled. "Went straight from kidnapping a baby melon to marrying a princess."

Filled with dread, she said, "I… wrote that one for you. I remember you were stuck on that one… so I filled it in… I'm sorry, Henry." She lowered her eyes back down to the book and he shook his head at her.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" He laughed. "Seemed like a good number three at the time."

Abby couldn't help herself at that point. She walked over to set the book down on a nearby table and quickly returned to grab Henry by the arms. This was the opening she had hoped for. She talked to Trish, and now it was his turn for a one-on-one.

"It still is," she encouraged. "What did I say, huh? If you want her, you need to go get her. I happen to know Trish loves you very much. And I can see you love her too."

"So what?" Henry was the complete opposite of encouraged. "Obviously she wasn't satisfied or we wouldn't be having this conversation." Abby forced eye contact and every time he tried to look away she moved her head in his line of sight.

Shaking her head, she said, "Do I need to slap you or something? You're my best friend right? Am I not your best friend?"

Henry sighed at her approach. "You know you are, Abby."

"Then trust me, Henry. If there's anything I've learned in life, it's to never let go of the people you love. To just drop them from your life? It'll drive you crazy."

He laughed a little. "No," he said flatly. "You know what drives a person crazy? Love. Betrayal. Dishonesty."

Abby nodded and looked down.

"It's like I said." Henry watched her attentively. "Trust me. I know."

She was thinking about all of the people she left behind four years ago on Harper's Island. Her father may have been the one to send her away, but she was the one who never looked back. The one who abandoned the one true person she ever had feelings for and never wrote, never called. Abby did know how Henry was feeling, and all she wanted was for him to understand that before he ended up making a similar mistake.

He looked down at her hands closing over his, but she wasn't seeing much progress. He still looked as dead as he felt cold. Abby was fixing to drop the subject altogether when her finger brushed something rough on the top of his wrist. He looked down at her confused as she pushed the end of his sleeve up.

Abby winced. "Henry," she breathed. "What happened?" There was a long gash running partially up his arm from his wrist. It wasn't bleeding, but it didn't look like it had too much time to heal either.

"Played football with the guys last week," he said. "It doesn't hurt." Abby hovered her fingers around the area and then took her hand back. It looked nasty. He needed to put something on it to help jump-start the healing process if it was still looking like that after a week.

She chuckled. "I guess you had fun," she said. They used to joke back when they were kids that whoever had the most scars had the most fun that day. He remembered.

Henry smiled, his eyes wandering to the water.

"I guess I did."

Sully was hurrying to meet Henry halfway down the dock before he even had a chance to make it back to the heart of the party. Abby left him to go find a drink or two, so he was walking alone and looking at the scrapbook she gave him before he came along.

"Dude," Sully eagerly called to him. Henry leaned in to listen once he made it to him and he saw the look on his friend's face. "I didn't invite her I swear." He glanced to his right without doing anything obvious to draw attention to them, and Henry searched the area for the 'her' he was talking about.

Finally, his eyes found Trish Wellington, standing parallel from them at the other end of the pier. Henry glowered at Sully as if he didn't believe him, but his sandy-haired friend put his hands up in surrender.

"I swear," he said again. Unwilling but still forced to acknowledge her presence, Henry released an ill breath and stepped around him to make his way over to her.

In a pink miniskirt and a light blue spaghetti strap shirt, Beth Barrington, Trish's roommate for two years, made her way over to Abby. She was grabbing her second glass of champagne from a refreshment table when she made it to her.

"Abby!" Beth said. She turned to face the person calling her name and was surprised to find the girl already stepping into a hug. "Hey," she laughed. Abby's eyes widened on her shoulder.

"Beth," she greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you." She had a very sweet smile on her face, and the decorative light shining down on her made her all the more pretty. "Trish told me you were here. I wanted to say hi before you ended up leaving again. Oh and bring Henry his present. I've had it hidden for weeks."

Abby glanced down at the birthday bag in her hand and all of the lime-y paper poking out of it. Henry had more friends than she could count. If she couldn't cheer him up maybe all of those millions of presents would.

She nodded. "That's nice of you."

And before she could say anything else, she caught sight of Trish and lost her breath. The sight of her was as much a surprise as it was worrisome. If she was here unannounced, she was probably going to get an earful from a bunch of angry guys who felt it was their duty to defend Henry's honor any second… but then she noticed Henry also standing there with her and the queasy feeling in her stomach died down to some small extent. He was talking to her. And calmly. Neither of them were shouting, and she had to wonder how long they had been there. Or how long Trish had.

Beth noticed her attention stray and looked around to see what she was focused on. She spotted the two of them seconds later, and she didn't look back at Abby.

"Trish is really sorry." She frowned. "I hope he can forgive her." Abby glanced at her, figuring they drove there together, and opened her mouth to agree but was interrupted before she could.

"Hey." At once, they both turned to see Lucy Daramour approaching. "What are you guys doing?"

Beth leaned close to whisper as though it were a secret. "Trish is talking to Henry." Lucy's eyes grew round as Abby took a swig of her drink and the girls stared openly at their conversing friends.

"Uh-oh," Lucy cringed. "Worried to see how this turns out." Beth nodded and Lucy bumped her arm. "Oh, by the way. Did you hear about your R.A.?"

Abby turned her back to the girls to grab another glass.

Beth shook her head. "No. What happened?"

"Her boyfriend killed himself," she said quietly.

Beth put a hand on her chest. "What? That's terrible."

"I saw it on the news earlier, so I asked around to see if anyone knew her," Lucy explained. "That was when I realized who she was. I knew I recognized her name. I only ever met her once but I know you know her. She found him hanging in his apartment. Isn't that sad?"

Sarah Taylor left a friend's house late this afternoon to find her fiancé Navy Houston dead in his apartment complex.

Abby swallowed, setting her drink down on the table as her hands, her legs, her entire body grew heavy. There was that word again. She looked around college students blocking her line of sight and saw that Trish had her arms wrapped around Henry's neck. She was crying, and he was holding her tight. From her perspective, he wasn't mad. He didn't look sad anymore either.

He was satisfied.


End file.
